Dell dead pixel policy on 2405FPW

[Nathias]

I just got my Dell 2405FPW Flat Panel Monitor last week and I noticed it has a dead pixel on the left side of the screen. Is it horrible? Certainly not, the monitor looks great. Annoying? Yes, when I am playing a game that has dark levels in it, the white stuck pixel certainly does get annoying.

I just got off the phone with first level dell support about the deal pixel and they are unable to replace it with 1 dead pixel. They said the minimum they would replace the monitor would be 6. I was frustrated about this and didn't feel like going back and forth with a woman that could hardly speak English. So I figured I would post here and see what others have done in my situation with Dell.

While typing this post, a Dell technical support manager just called me back (without me even requesting it) to talk to me about the problem and follow up. Basically he wants to let me know that the dead pixel problem is normal and that all 2405's have a dead pixel or two. I told him it's not "normal" and that it was a manufacturing defect with the monitor. I know people on these very forums have this monitor (and other Dell monitors) and don't have any dead pixels. So basically he said he won't replace it for one dead pixel and if more show up, then he will replace it.

Anyone have any thoughts on this problem? I was thinking about just using Dell's "no questions asked" 21-day return policy or whatever it is and then just repurchasing the monitor again, but that's quite a bit of work and I don't know if any of the coupons I used to get the price down will still be valid. :shrug:

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[sicloan]

Keep the monitor. 1 dead pixel is nothing. My benq fp731 (17") has 1 dead pixel and i hardly notice it. Only when the monitor is fully black is it a problem.

[Ri0]

What if the next one you get has 3 bright green stuck pixles in the middle. Then you will really be annoyed... I'd just try to live with it if they won't replace it.

[Jcollins82]

I've read that if you try tapping on the screen at the location of the dead pixel, occasionally it will fix the problem. Might want to give it a try.

[Alchemy1]

1 dead pixel isn't the end of the world. It is barely noticable like sicloan said. I don't know of any company that will replace LCD's with as few as 1 dead pixel any way.

[PerlAddict]

When you're coughing up over $800 for a monitor, a dead pixel is an issue to ME, I know that. When I bought my 2405FPW, I could swear it was listed on Dell's website as having a 3-year, 0-dead pixel policy. I don't see that listed now, but you might call up and inquire about that policy on that monitor, as it may have been in affect when you originally ordered it.

If this was a $300 - $400 LCD, I'd say "such goes the luck," but this thing costs the better part of a cool grand, and the quality needs to match up.

[PerlAddict]

1 dead pixel isn't the end of the world. It is barely noticable like sicloan said. I don't know of any company that will replace LCD's with as few as 1 dead pixel any way.

TigerDirect replaced my L90D+ with one dead pixel. It had a little backlight bleeding, too, but nothing that the replacement unit didn't have as well.

[Nathias]

Yeah, I thought they had the 0 dead pixel policy too (at least that's what I read somewhere, probably on some forum :) ). I did check their site and found a six dead pixel policy.

I knew going into this that there's always a chance of getting a bad pixel with an LCD (hell, I have one on my PSP) and I'll live with it if I have too. I just wanted to see if anyone else had gotten Dell to replace their monitor after an LCD problem.

I would like to add: Dell support sucks and trying to figure out who to contact with a bad monitor is practically impossible. They have no options on their tech support line for monitor support. They must assume that everyone purchases the monitor with a computer and thus has a express service code (which I didn't). I had to call tech support and keep hitting "0" and eventually I got put into the dell dimension support queue.

When you're coughing up over $800 for a monitor, a dead pixel is an issue to ME, I know that. When I bought my 2405FPW, I could swear it was listed on Dell's website as having a 3-year, 0-dead pixel policy. I don't see that listed now, but you might call up and inquire about that policy on that monitor, as it may have been in affect when you originally ordered it.

If this was a $300 - $400 LCD, I'd say "such goes the luck," but this thing costs the better part of a cool grand, and the quality needs to match up.

[Yamiyanazz]

now lets look at the numbers.

on the Dell 2405FPW, there are 2,304,000 pixels. You have one that is broken. Your monitor is basically flawless when you look at it that way. Seriously, one dead pixel isn't that bad when you consider how many pixels they got right. I was almost worried about having a dead pixel when I bought my cheapo monitors, but then I realized that there are 786,432 pixels on my screen. You have nearly three times as many pixels, so I wouldn't worry about it. You will get used to it after a short while.

[{PMS}fishy]

1 dead/stuck pixel is too many for me.

If I spend $800 it better be perfect.

I'd either lie and say there were 6 dead ones, or just send it back, and order another.

[schnikies79]

Check out this thread:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=404810

Lordkosc said dell replaced a 2005fpw with 3 dead pixels. I have a friend who also had a 2005fpw replaced with two. apparently they will replace it, if you talk to the right ppl; not that I know who those ppl are.

I'm waiting on a 2005fpw myself and am a bit worried, it's not $800, but I still want a perfect monitor.

[damarble]

I could not live with even 1 dead pixel. I say just return it and buy another, take the chance.

[d94]

deffinetly return it and get another
$800 or $400
you paid for a product and got one w/a defect
i personally couldnt stand it just because id know its there!

[Alchemy1]

I know it's an expensive monitor, but I didn't THINK that LCD technology was at a point were you can gauarantee someone that they will not have a single dead pixel. If that was the case why would any manufacturer have the dead pixel policies they have in place? I have limited experience with LCD technology...so, if I am wrong please correct me.

[PerlAddict]

Dell has a 21-day satisfaction guarantee, don't they? No questions asked, just send it back for an exchange or refund. I know I'd sure send it back. And I'm right there with Fishy .... if I pop down enough money for a whole computer on just a monitor, it had better be perfect. Close works in horse shoes and hand grenades, not $800+ pieces of computer equipment.

Someone posted about RMAing their LCD to Dell earlier with some tips on getting through to customer service. Think they ended up with two RMAs before they got a winner. Can't seem to find the post now, though. Bah.

[PerlAddict]

I know it's an expensive monitor, but I didn't THINK that LCD technology was at a point were you can guarantee someone that they will not have a single dead pixel. If that was the case why would any manufacturer have the dead pixel policies they have in place? I have limited experience with LCD technology...so, if I am wrong please correct me.

Some companies have a 0-dead pixel policy in place already. And while I can't find it anywhere now, I could have sworn when I bought my 2405FPW that it said it had such a policy in place for the unit.

[Alchemy1]

Okay, I was just asking. As I said, I have limited experience with LCD's. If you could find a few of those monitors and post them here....I'd appreciate it. I'm trying to upgrade to a 19" around Christmas and it'd be nice to have a monitor with such a guarantee.

[ajrettke]

I'd return it with the 21 day policy. It's a 800 dollar LCD, and I don't care if 1 of 2million is bad. My 3 LCD's from dell have all come flawless, and I'd expect any other ones to be that way or it's getting sent back.
If it doesn't bother you then fine keep it...but you said annoying, so in my view it would be boxed up and shipped out the next day1

[bchur83]

I bought a Dell 2005FPW back in March. When I received it, it had major backlight bleeding. I called up Dell, they sent me a new one. The new one also had major backlight issues, though not as bad as the first. So I called them up again, and they sent me another. This one was almost as bad as the first one. I called them up again and was like WTF is wrong with quality control. I told them, the only way I would accept another one was if it was tested before shipping and arrived perfect. I got that one, it had a little bit of bleeding, but not too bad. I accepted this one, and it has worked great ever since. They were very hesitant to ship me a 4th monitor, because for all of the previous ones, they forgot to send return tags, so I had to hold on to them until I got the return tags. The last one I got was a refurbished model, because they said they would not open a new one and test it before shipping, so they sent a refurbished one instead, since it has been tested. WTF is with that.

All in all, I will probably never do business with Dell again, unless i can get a killer deal. With the whole problem above, I was on the phone for a combined time of about 10hrs total. That is rediculous. The average wait time to talk to someone was about 40min.

As for dead pixels, When I bought this monitor, it was a 0-dead pixel policy. Granted, I didnt have a pixel problem, so that didnt apply to me. I think that if you pay as much as you do for the best, it should be perfect. If it has one dead pixel, backlight bleeding, or any problems, it should be replaced at the manufacturers cost.

[maelstromracing]

The live with the dead pixel idea is like saying it's ok if your brand new $800 7800GT850XLGSXR Video Card Artifacts here and there......

[Nathias]

Did a little search on the dell forums and found a post by a mod saying that they will only replace if the unit has 6 or more dead pixels.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=oplex_monitor&message.id=3161&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs

[PerlAddict]

That's fine and dandy, but Dell SHOULD take it back regardless of ANY reasons with 21 days, from my understanding. You can say, "I think it's making my cat mad," and as long as it's within 21 days, you should be able to send it back.

And I'm wondering if I just dreamed up the 3-year, 0-dead pixel policy. I swear I can see the notice on the page in my head, but danged if I can find it anywhere now. I'm gonna have to look through my paperwork when I get home.

[Alchemy1]

Yeah, if they have a "no questions asked" period they should take it back. I was just asking about the no dead pixel thing. If there are companies that is fine and if not...oh well. I just don't see how a company could make that statement. We are dealing with mass produced products here. No matter the cost.

[PerlAddict]

There are some companies that are starting to adopt a no-dead-pixels policy. I know Samsung has it on some of their LCD's. You can just search Google for "0-dead pixels policy" and snoop around if you want to find others.

[Alchemy1]

I searched and found out that Samsungs Guarantee (http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412300018.html) is only good for up to six months after purchase. I only looked quickly, but I didn't see any other companies that offer such a policy.

Edit:
I see in some posts on different forums that Phillips, BenQ, Viewsonic ( VA520 and VA720 Models) have the policy as well.

[{PMS}fishy]

I searched and found out that Samsungs Guarantee (http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412300018.html) is only good for up to six months after purchase. I only looked quickly, but I didn't see any other companies that offer such a policy.

Edit:
I see in some posts on different forums that Phillips, BenQ, Viewsonic ( VA520 and VA720 Models) have the policy as well.

If a Pixel is going to be dead or stuck, its going to come that way from the factory. 6 months is more than adquate for issues to be found.

Heck, I'd be fine with a 30 to 90 Dead Pixel Warranty, and then the normal warranty after that.

[joethemole]

1 dead pixel isn't the end of the world. It is barely noticable like sicloan said. I don't know of any company that will replace LCD's with as few as 1 dead pixel any way.

ha! thats any COMPANY. but if you buy from big name retailers, like bestbuy or whatnot, they have a 14day unconditional return policy.

[joethemole]

there seems to be something with dell monitors... i bought a samsung 710N last year, and just last week, an NEC 1970GX, and neither has any dead pixels.

[Alchemy1]

I was never disputing the fact of if you can return an item within the store's return policy. I TOTALLY agree if you have something that is within the # of days you should be able to return it for WHATEVER reason.

[pcgamer4life]

After shelling out that amount of money for a monitor, 1 pixel would be a problem to me. I'd keep bugging them about it, they WILL give you something. If nothing else, tell them it has horrible backlight bleeding issues... they'll send you another one. Or just tell them it has more than 1 dead pixel, they won't check the monitor personally.

[Kunaak]

I don't care if a LCD has 50 trillion pixels on it, and 1 dead pixel.

if I can see it, it's too much.
I don't care, I don't care, and I don't care how hard it was to make, or how its 99.9999999999% perfect. I don't care if you used a time machine, went a thousand years into the future, to steal the technology to make a LCD, and want to tell me how insanely complicated it is to make.

I don't care.

I don't care.

and...

I don't care.

what I care about is, is getting a 100% working product.
not a 99.98% working product.

if you bought a car. then found one door knob didn't work, would that bother you??

after all, it's just one small part, of a machine with 5,000 working parts.
thats a nearly perfect success rate, right?

sure...

but I'd bet like hell, you'd be complaining, if that one door knob, was broke on the one car you buy....

telling someone to "just live with it", is easy, when its not your LCD thats defective.

they may have a loose version, of what perfection is.
but I don't.

100% is perfect, not 99.9998%

they can make a program to scan for dead pixel of a LCD before selling it.
they can find a way to test them better.
I don't care, about the reasons why they will say they can't.
cause they can.
they just don't...

till then, LCD's are still a gamble when you buy one.

[Sk8erfreak986]

It could be much worse...you could have just dropped down the money for a 2005FPW...then about 1 month after you get it you go on vacation and your brother leaves norton running in the middle of the screen with no screensaver with the monitor on....for a week.

Morale of the story is having a picture of norton burned in the center of your monitor is much worse.

[Vulcan]

It could be much worse...you could have just dropped down the money for a 2005FPW...then about 1 month after you get it you go on vacation and your brother leaves norton running in the middle of the screen with no screensaver with the monitor on....for a week.

Morale of the story is having a picture of norton burned in the center of your monitor is much worse.
Did you kill him?

If you are lucky it won't be permanent.

[Alchemy1]

Ouch...that's gotta hurt!

[lordkosc]

It could be much worse...you could have just dropped down the money for a 2005FPW...then about 1 month after you get it you go on vacation and your brother leaves norton running in the middle of the screen with no screensaver with the monitor on....for a week.

Morale of the story is having a picture of norton burned in the center of your monitor is much worse.

I thought burnin was a thing of the past, I haven't seen a lcd with burnin issues in 2-3 years... :confused:

[Sk8erfreak986]

after a few days of the monitor being off and playing on it I really don't notice it anymore...but yes It is possible to still burn an image in...just not as bad as it used to.